Reef Discovery: Ocean Homes

Compare coral, seagrass and sand through Troy Mayne’s real underwater photographs. Look closely, ask questions and create your own reef adventure.

Notice, wonder, imagine

Name three things you can actually see. Ask one question you cannot answer from the photograph alone. Then invent a reef adventure, making clear which details are observed and which are imagined.

For educators

Holes and overhangs in coral reefs provide shelters used by many fish.[1] Seagrass meadows provide habitat for marine animals; their benefits vary between plants and places.[2] These studies offer background knowledge, rather than identifying the animals or locations in these photographs.

Download classroom photo activities · Back to Reef School

Sources

1. Alexandre Ménard et al., “Shelters and Their Use by Fishes on Fringing Coral Reefs,” PLOS ONE 7, no. 6 (2012): e38450. Read the open-access article.

2. Lina Mtwana Nordlund et al., “Seagrass Ecosystem Services and Their Variability across Genera and Geographical Regions,” PLOS ONE 11, no. 10 (2016): e0163091. Read the open-access article.

Compare three ocean homes

Coral reef

Look at the many shapes in this reef photograph. Find branches, rounded shapes and spaces between them.

Question: Where could a small fish fit?

Seagrass meadow

Look at the fish above the long seagrass leaves. Compare the leaf shapes with the coral shapes.

Question: What is similar and what is different?

Sandy seabed

Sunlight over rippled sand beneath clear blue water

Look carefully across the sand. Describe the textures and any animals or other details you can see.

Question: What might be outside the frame or hidden from view?